A glimpse inside the life and mind of Mike B.

Then & Now

It seems lots of people, especially kids, aren’t thankful for the things they have. I have personally heard from my own kids how we don’t ever give them what they ask for. Of course, Jacinda and I often point out how much more our kids have than we ever imagined. That got me thinking about just how much they do have and how great their lives are. It also reminded me of how much better things are now than when we were kids. Which led to this blog post.

I thought I would just choose a few items we had when we were kids and compare them to the same type of item our kids have. Let’s start with the telephone.

The first picture is very similar to the one telephone I had in my house growing up. I remember the sound of the rotary as you dialed the number. There was no caller id or redial. If the line was busy you had to hang up and redial. Of course now many, like me, have smart phones like the Blackberry pictured on the right. Many kids, including our oldest, have cell phones and can talk to or text anyone from just about anywhere.

Next let’s look at TV. The first one looks a lot like the one I grew up with. I’m not exactly sure if it’s the same brand, but it gives a fairly accurate depiction of our 13″ black-and-white set. We, like most people back in the day, had 3-4 channels to choose from and no remote. Can you imagine??? We actually had to stand up and change the channel using the little dials you see pictured. Oh yeah, we only had one TV in the house for years. Now our kids have multiple TV’s in the house, including an HDTV like the one shown on the right. Not only do they have a remote to use, they can even press “guide” to see which shows are coming up next. They even have “On Demand” and can watch many of their favorite shows or movies whenever they want. Did I mention the smallest screen size in our house is 26″ and they are all color. I don’t think our kids have ever watched black-and-white. Man, they do have a rough life!

Last but not least let’s look at video games. I was lucky to get an Atari. Not everyone was so fortunate. Of course mine was bought used, but I loved it. Check out those unbelievable football graphics!!! Today, our kids have a Wii. The remote itself probably has more electronic components in it than the entire Atari system. I added a pic of the graphics from the Wii version of the Madden NFL football game. The quality might be just a little better than the Atari game.

I could go on and on with various products, but I think this gets the point across. I’m going to make sure both of my kids read this post. Hopefully actually seeing the differences will make them a little more appreciative of what they are blessed with!